Summer is a time for relaxing, having fun and, for Millennials, spending time with family. They have busy lives during the school year – between jobs, school work, and keeping up with their friends – and summer continues to be the time for them to focus on what they are interested in doing and spend time with who they want.
As Memorial Day kicked off this summer, Ypulse touched base with 868 Millennials on their mobile phones to see how things were shaping up so far. As they eased into their new schedules, 8 in 10 (79%) said their weekend was good, with nearly 1 in 10 (8%) proclaiming Memorial Day weekend 2012 as the best weekend ever! And it wasn’t friends who brought the good times: family were the ones who accompanied our Millennials on their Memorial Day weekend adventures (52% spent it with parents vs. 34% with friends).
After all, Millennials are known for having an exceptionally close relationship with their parents. This means there is often collaboration when deciding about family vacation destinations and activities.
Whether it was hitting up a concert, relaxing on the beach, or a family road trip to Florida, Millennials who spent the weekend with their family were more likely to rate their weekends as being great. Fully 14% said that seeing family or a specific family member was the BEST part of their long weekend. Among those who didn’t have a good weekend, some told us they had fights with loved ones or even a death in the family that got their summer off to a rough start.
While many told us they were celebrating graduation and enjoying their first weekend as an “adult”, there is a desire to keep Mom and Dad in the picture. Family remains an important part of Millennials’ lives even as they prepare for summer, and that means it’s no longer about freedom from the confines of home, but embracing the time they get to spend together.
